More than a century after one of Europe’s most notorious antisemitic scandals, France has posthumously promoted Alfred Dreyfus — the Jewish army officer falsely convicted of treason in 1894 — to the rank of brigadier general. The decree, signed by President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, was officially published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française.

The decision is being hailed as an act of national reparation and a pointed message amid a surge in antisemitism across France. Activists urged the government to match the gesture with forceful action against modern antisemitism, saying officials must confront today’s mounting antisemitism which has deeply impacted the French Jewish community.

Dreyfus, a brilliant officer rising through the ranks of the French General Staff, was falsely accused of spying for Germany after a torn memo was misidentified as his handwriting. The investigation was marred from the outset by deep antisemitism within the French military and government. Despite forged evidence and the emergence of the real culprit, Maj. Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, Dreyfus was publicly humiliated, stripped of his rank in a vicious military ceremony, and sentenced to life imprisonment on the remote Devil’s Island penal colony.

The scandal tore French society apart and revealed virulent anti-Jewish hatred at the heart of the nation. Dreyfus’ innocence was eventually championed by writer Émile Zola — whose explosive letter J’accuse! accused the government of conspiracy and corruption — and by intelligence officer Georges Picquart, who uncovered the truth and was punished for doing so. After years of legal battles, Dreyfus was exonerated in 1906 and reinstated into the military, though he never fully escaped the stigma of the affair. He died in 1935.

Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the promotion earlier this year, calling it a final, formal clearing of Dreyfus’ name.

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